NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who live near airports
may have an elevated risk of high blood pressure due to noise
pollution, a Swedish study suggests.

Dr. Mats Rosenlund of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm
and associates found that among more than 2,000 men followed
for a decade, those who lived in areas with the greatest noise
from a nearby airport had a higher risk of developing high
blood pressure.

It's possible that the constant noise of planes buzzing
overhead is a source of chronic stress for some of these
individuals, which in turn may raise their blood pressure,
explained Rosenlund.

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"It is thought that aircraft noise causes stress problems
when it interferes with people's ability to think, relax or
sleep, for example," Rosenlund told Reuters Health.

A wide range of factors are known to affect heart health,
and it's not yet clear that airplane noise is directly
responsible for the higher blood pressure seen in this study,
according to Rosenlund. But, he noted, this study, along with
past research, shows there is an association between noise
exposure and high blood pressure.

The study involved 2,027 men from four municipalities
surrounding the Stockholm Arlanda airport who were free of high
blood pressure at the study's outset. Their aircraft-noise
exposure was estimated using government air traffic data, and
the researchers tracked any new diagnoses of high blood
pressure over the next 10 years.

In general, the 20 percent of men exposed to the highest
average levels of airplane noise were 19 percent were more
likely to develop high blood pressure than their counterparts
with lower-level noise exposure, the researchers report in the
medical journal Epidemiology.

Other factors they considered -- such as the men's age,
weight, income and exercise habits -- did not change the link
between aircraft noise and blood pressure.

Still, Rosenlund said, it's too early to say "with
confidence" that living near an airport raises a person's risk
of high blood pressure.

A large European study involving multiple airports is
underway, he noted, and it may provide a more definitive
answer.

For now, Rosenlund said he would hesitate to recommend that
people living near airports find a new home. On the other hand,
he pointed out, people who are "constantly annoyed" by airplane
noise might want to consider a neighborhood more conducive to
their overall happiness.